A group of high school students in Baraboo came under fire earlier this month for displaying a Nazi salute in a prom photo.

Just weeks before, two men in Wausau stirred controversy by wearing blackface and shouting racial slurs during a Halloween party.

Hatred toward minorities is nothing new in the United States. But observers say people have become emboldened to express those views publicly since President Donald Trump's campaign and election.

Trump has faced criticism for making racially-charged statements both as a candidate and also after the election, such as calling Mexicans rapists. Critics argue such statements play a role in normalizing what had become socially unacceptable speech and actions, and tacitly signal support for extremist groups.

He also came under fire for placing blame on both sides after last year's violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

"After Charlottesville, it was very damaging to say there are good people on both sides," said Elana Kahn, director of community relations for the Milwaukee Jewish Federation. "We as a country, at least the country that I’m part of, have values that say white supremacy is not okay."

Trump also gave voice to a long-simmering fight about "political correctness," which some politicians, pundits and others had lambasted as suppression of free speech. Now, there's an increase in people saying whatever they want, said Lecia Brooks, outreach director for the Southern Poverty Law Center.

“This whole notion of pushing back against political correctness has just unleashed the ugliest side of us," she said. "Just because you can say something doesn’t mean you should.”

Among the consequences: hate crimes appear to be on the rise.

From 2016 to 2017, FBI statistics show a 35 percent jump in reported incidents in Wisconsin, and a 17 percent increase was recorded nationwide. The FBI data are imperfect, though, as reporting is not mandatory and therefore it likely understates the frequency of such crimes.

Hate a part of history

Well before the recent shift in public discourse, racism brewed under the surface for decades, but hate groups generally maintained a lower profile, said Pamela Oliver, a sociology professor at the University of Wisconsin. Racially offensive images became publicly unacceptable by the end of the Civil Rights era, she said, but they never disappeared completely.

"The rule became racist jokes, et cetera, are acceptable if you’re among your friends and the members of the minorities are not there, but you don’t do it in public," she said.

White supremacist groups started to regroup in the 1980s and spent years growing in secret, according to Oliver. And by the 1990s, she said, it once again became acceptable for college students to don blackface for a party under the guise they were being edgy or funny — not racist.

In the political sphere, meanwhile, race emerged in debates over affirmative action and immigration policies. But racism became even more overt when Barack Obama was elected president, Oliver said, citing Glenn Beck's description of the Affordable Care Act as reparations.

"I think it’s pretty clear that when President Obama was elected that there was a regrouping," she said.

But everyone agreed that 2016 blew the lid off completely.

"When you move the window of what is acceptable to do in public, you do start making it more frequent," Oliver said.

The role of social media

With the advent of social media came websites like 4chan and Reddit, which established themselves as places for people to discuss virtually anything, no matter how controversial. And Facebook became a hotbed for political discussion.

That's made social media a key outlet for hate. Kahn noted that about 25 percent of anti-Semitic incidents the group tracked in 2017 involved social media. These websites also have a "bias toward outrage," she said, so people focus more on pointing fingers than they do on finding solutions.

Still, social media can be used for good, Kahn said. And she believes it's important for leaders to understand social media and know when to stop responding.

"It helps expose people," she said. "It helps keep people accountable because it means the world is watching."

Pushing back against racism

Observers emphasized the need for education and speaking out to curb the growth of hate crimes and hate speech.

Brooks of the Southern Poverty Law Center said citizens need to hold elected officials responsible for their words and actions. It's important for leaders to bring people together, she said — not divide or dehumanize them.

"We can’t just watch," she said.

Education is especially crucial among children, Kahn said. She said it's important for people to teach them about joining a global workforce and community — particularly if they're raised in a segregated or homogeneous setting.

"We have to be mindful about knowing the other," she said. "We have to be intentional about knowing the other."

Starlyn Tourtillott, an attorney for the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, said in an email to USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin that training for law enforcement and community groups can help curb this trend. Positive discourse among leaders and getting to know our neighbors will also help combat hate, she said.

“I believe Wisconsinites are particularly taking this issue to heart,” she said. “We say hello to everyone and anyone, we hold doors open for strangers behind us, we are a mild mannered people that despite differences, generally treat each other with respect.”